Beautiful Days

REVIEW ORIGINALLY POSTED http://hobbitsies.net/wordpress/2011/09/beautiful-days-by-anna-godbersen/

Beautiful Days is an absolutely dazzling book – page after page of glamour and drama. I felt transported to the 1920s whilst reading it. I was Letty, I was Cordelia, I was Astrid – I was wearing sequined dresses and going out to night clubs every night and flying in planes with strange men and getting my heart broken and my hopes crushed and then having them built back up again. Anna Godbersen’s writing took me through all these events as if I were experiencing them myself.

Once again, I find myself reluctantly closing one of Anna Godbersen’s books, eagerly anticipating the next book.

GUYS how freaking eloquent was that? It took me show more so long to write because all I could think was OH MY GODDD I LOVE THE 1920S I LOVE MUSIC I LOVE SPEAKEASIES AND BOOZE AND FLAPPERS AND CIGARETTE WOMEN AND CORDELIA AND CHARLIE AND ASTRID and etc, you get the point.

Beautiful Days freaking rocked. Like, better-than-Beautiful-Young-Things type of rocked. Because while I loved Beautiful Young Things, I had trouble remembering what happened several months after reading it(except at the end holy crap). With Beautiful Days? Uh-huh, no chance of that!

Seriously. Beautiful Days is an amazing follow-up to Bright Young Things and I am on my toes waiting for the next book in this series. Gorgeous writing, gorgeous cover, fantastic characters, badass time period, confusing and realistic (for the time) romance – this book has something for everyone. Go read this series ASAP. show less

Anna Godbersen is one of my favorite frosting authors. Her books are pure escape, into a glittering past of beautiful clothes and champagne. Cordelia, Letty and Astrid, best friends and socialites, each have their own problems in this installment. Cordelia is trying to get over Thom, who killed her father in the first book, naive Letty just wants to sing and be famous, and Astrid is engaged to a bootlegger. Of course, life is rather dangerous for these girls, and who knows if they'll all live to see the end of the trilogy? I will certainly read it to find out.

Anna Godbersen just has this magical way of writing that immerses you into another world. Her stories just make me so happy. Beautiful Days picks up about a month after Bright Young Things. Despite the tragedies that occurred at the end of Bright Young Things, Beautiful Days has a very whimsical feel to it. The camaraderie between Astrid, Cordelia, and Letty leaps through the pages and their care-free attitudes as they spend nights on the town reminds me of a few college nights spent with some of my best friends.

Even though there are plenty of scenes that will leave you smiling, and in my case pleasantly reminiscing, Beautiful Days still has a lot of danger woven into the storyline—after all bootlegging is an integral part of the show more characters’ lives. Godbersen’s ability to intertwine these romantic, care-free situations with life-threatening predicaments is remarkable.

One of the best things about her writing is how realistic it feels. All the emotions are genuine, the imagery is incredible, the characters are well-developed, and nothing is too easy. There are plenty of books out there that always manage to have all of the situations resolved quite pleasantly—even if the circumstances and emotions involved make this unrealistic. Godbersen always takes into account everything that happens in the story and weaves that into the conclusion. This doesn’t always make for a fairy-tale ending, but it does create an epic story. Godbersen is a shining star in the Young Adult genere. Her next book, The Lucky Ones, will be released in 2013. show less

It's hard to go wrong when it comes to a good historical fiction novel, especially one by the amazing Anna Godbersen. After thoroughly enjoying her Luxe series, it was only natural that Bright Young Things would be just as wonderful. Set in the 1920s, Bright Young Things captured the wild underground world of jazz, speakeasys, bootlegging and flappers in the glitz and glamor of New York City. Beautiful Days picks up not long after the end of Bright Young Things and continues the story of Cordelia, Letty and the other young ladies of New York society during the final summer of the Jazz Age.

After only a month in New York, Cordelia and Letty have transformed from small-town girls from Ohio with big dreams to somewhat spoiled socialites. show more Having befriended young girls from the New York elite, the two girls now find myself spending their days lounging next to exotic pools and their nights in the New York clubs. Letty, though, isn't content to just be a socialite, she's willing to do just about anything for her dream of becoming a singer. Meanwhile Cordelia, who is still reeling from the death of her father, finds herself the head of a speakeasy, complete with bootleggers and other gangsters -including the dangerous, yet attractive Charlie Grey.

Godbersen delivers another incredibly vivid and compelling historical novel, with excellent characters and a riveting plot that'll keep readers going up until the very end. Though Beautiful Days isn't as good as Bright Young Things, but its a satisfying follow-up that continues the stories of these compelling characters who are trying to find their way in the wild, yet somewhat dark world of the New York Jazz scene.

And I can't wait for the sequel. show less

This could also be titled "The Girls Almost Grow Up," as Letty and Cordelia seem to have finally found their places in 1929 New York. Cordelia has recovered from her immaturity in book one, and is bound and determined to carry on the bootlegging Gray name, while Letty has improved not only in her singing, but in her ability to "reach out and grab" her impending stardom. Astrid is the only one of the trio to have taken several steps back from book one. Her immaturity shows throughout, and almost causes her fiance Charlie Gray to pay more than he'd ever expected he'd have to pay for something in his life.

The roaring twenties is one of my favorite eras in the 1900's-- seriously I was born in the wrong decade. I love reading about the 20s. The glamorous dresses, the parties, the prohibition, everything.

I picked up Bright Young Things about a year ago, and I loved that first book. It had everything-- murder, romance, secrets, revenge, all the thrilling things necessary in a good book, it had it. This book (Beautiful Days) was not exactly a disappointment, but it wasn't exactly what I was expecting from what I have read on the first book. It was much slower paced, there was a lot of opportunity to bring up the unresolved matters of the first book that needed to be solved. I don't know if the author is planning on addressing those matters on show more the third book, but that is my prediction.

What this book did bring was new characters, and the characters that were introduced on the first book, were developed in this one. Particularly Max, the handsome pilot that Cordelia saved from a plan crash in the first book. But I expected more of Cordelia as a character, she is my favorite character, and I expected her to really take revenge on the death of her father, but as I recall she did almost nothing. I hope she can do something in the next book.

Again, it all comes back to the first book or the third book. To me, this book was just a book to explain everything and to increase the suspense, but it fell a little bit short. However, I will definitely be reading the third book, I cannot wait to find out what happens to the bright young things. Anna Godbersen's hypnotic historical writing will keep on amazing me, how vivid the historical scenes come to life with her animated writing. You can visualize the feathery headbands, hear the music, and immerse yourself in the glamorous world she has created.

Review from my blog: More Than Just A Book (YA reviews) show less

At a time when I feel as though a good historical read has fallen by the wayside, Anna Godbersen's novels always seem to deliver. As the follow up to Bright Young Things, we pick back up with Cordelia and Letty trying to make a life for themselves in busy New York City during the days of the prohibition. In the case of a second novel, there is a lot to remember about the first book that I couldn't always piece together. Having said that, I did, slowly pull the story back into one whole so I could enjoy the rest of the story.

In what reminds me of a Gossip Girls type of a story, the drama is high and the action is even higher. There's a little bit of everything here, with its showgirls, prohibition, gangsters, wealth, and prestige. show more However, the glitz and glamour are offset by moments of poverty and crime. There were moments of girls languishing by the pool, in sorrow over whatever male interest wasn't paying them enough attention. That was annoying, but I would suppose, pretty important in the development of a relationship? I can't say that this was my favorite of Godbersen's novels, as the lead female characters feel a bit unreachable and not relatable to me (while her Luxe series characters felt much more real in my estimation), this was still agood YA historical read. I plan on grabbing whatever follow-up comes out next so I can find out what happens to these characters. show less